When the admiral was summoned to the medical bay. He had thought it was so his chief medical officer Dr. Anna Wilson, could harangue him about the living conditions.

He was wrong.

Standing before him now was the President of the United Planets, the most powerful man in the galaxy.

“Mister President!”

“Admiral, How long would it take you to evacuate all of these people to the Dione Settlement?”

The briskness of the question made the admiral feel this wasn’t a hypothetical question.

“At least three months, we lost one of our cargo vessels.” the admiral explained.

“Unacceptable! Luckily I already have the Mercury Solar ships on their way each can carry at least 50,000. Admiral we need these people gone in under a week.”

The admiral was clearly unsure how to answer. The sensors hadn’t picked up any enemy activity, or planetary instability.

“Why so quickly, sir?” asked Lieutenant Lawton.

“Because, lieutenant. We’re trying again. We’re going to terraform Mars.”

‘God help us all.’ thought the admiral